Trip Reports Archives - Page 3 of 27

Mar 13 2017

A child scared of Disney World rides can still have a magical time

Disney World bills itself as the most magical place on earth, and for Disney lovers like myself, it definitely fits the bill! But I never expected to have a child scared of Disney World rides. Still, that’s what I ended up with when I took my 4 year old back to Disney World this year. A funny thing happened when I stopped pushing (or strongly encouraging) her to ride – she had a magical time anyway.

Now I recognize that a vacation to Disney World involves a huge upfront cost. That cost might make you feel a lot of pressure to make sure your family enjoys the vacation. But I quickly learned that making my daughter feel that pressure, even indirectly, hurt the situation. Even simple things like “You should just try it!” could potentially turn Disney from a shared experience into an adversarial one.

Do you have a child scared of Disney World rides? You can still help them to have a magical time with all the other wonderful things Disney has to offer! — Even though she met the height requirement, M wanted nothing to do with Seven Dwarves Mine Train (Photo Credit | Ryan Wendler, wdwnews.com)

This post details some ideas for things to do with your kids besides the rides. I’ll start by just discussing the types of scares you might want to think about, then discuss some fun alternatives in the parks, and finally end with a discussion of whether going to Disney World without rides is “worth it.”

Also one final note: I know people might feel differently, but I’m all about encouraging young children to try new things including things they might be afraid of. This post is directed to parents who, like myself, have determined that they definitely have a child scared of Disney World rides. It also should help you have backup plans if your touring plan falls apart because your child refuses to ride anymore.

Types of scary rides and attractions in the parks

When it comes to rides that might be scary for children, you can break Disney’s rides into two types. Thrill rides present the most obvious fear factor for children. Rides like Star Tours, Test Track, Space Mountain, and Expedition Everest are fast, loud, and can be really frightening for some young children. Even when your children meet the height requirements it still might be too intense of an experience for them. Even though M met the minimum height, I didn’t bring her on Star Tours because I knew she’d be miserable.

The tricky rides are the dark rides – those rides usually themed after a wonderfully happy Disney movie. Rides like Winnie the Pooh, the Little Mermaid, and even Journey into Imagination can get dark and scary for moments. For my daughter some of those moments were enough to ruin the whole ride for her. Eventually she said “no more inside rides” – and that was that. (To her credit, she tried everything at least once).

Finally, a lot of children fear loud noises, so they might even be afraid of things like The Indiana Jones show at Hollywood Studios or even the Muppets 3D show! And for many kids fireworks are a non-starter. If you want to prepare ahead of time, WDW Prep School has a great resource for potential fright factor for rides at the parks. Combine that with a knowledge of your children to mentally prepare, but remember, they might surprise you! In either direction.

Idea 1: Meet some swell characters around the parks

So you’ve planned a 5 day trip to Disney World and after day 1 you realize you have a child scared of Disney World rides. Doh! Not to fear, there’s a lot you can try. The first thing I’d suggest is pivoting and focusing more on meeting characters.

At any of the parks, you can probably fill up an entire morning (or more!) just meeting characters. The key here though is efficiency, you don’t want to wait in line for two hours to see one princess and then just go home. But meeting characters can be a wonderful experience, especially for young children who still think the characters are “real.”

You get three FastPass selections to start every day, if you use two of them for character meet and greets you should save yourself a bunch of time. Grab an autograph book (preferably somewhere off site) and start a collection!

You can also avoid waiting in lines by making a reservation for one of the character dining meals. These meals are more expensive so you are paying for convenience but this is the fastest way to meet a bunch of characters at once. Also be sure to check out the talking Mickey Mouse in Town Hall Square at Magic Kingdom.

Idea 2: Move it and shake it with parades and street performers

There’s a lot going on at Disney World outside of the rides. From a parks operation perspective, street performers, parades, and shows exist to draw crowds away from the rides to cut down wait times. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t great!

My daughter loves the “Move it! Shake it! Dance and Play it! Street Party” at Magic Kingdom. While parents might get annoyed when ¡Vamos! gets lodged in their head for the next four hours, think about the fun a little one would have just dancing with Mickey, Minnie, and pals in the street. Sure it’s supposed to be a parade but that didn’t stop M from busting a move on the sidewalk.

You can also just wander around the parks enjoying the atmosphere. Disney does a great job of having random street performers pop up when you least expect it (though if you do your research you can figure out when to expect it). Whether it be the pianist at Casey’s Corner on Main Street, Taiko drummers in the Japan pavilion, or marching Storm Troopers (okay that might be scary), there’s plenty to see and do on the streets of Disney.

Idea 3: Spend time in Disney play areas

Disney has set aside a lot of play areas for young children. These are well themed and have a touch of the Disney magic – though I’d admit if I paid all that money just for my kids to play on playgrounds I’d be a little miffed.

Still, the Boneyard in Animal Kingdom is a wonder of a play area, toddlers and preschoolers could probably spend an hour there happily before remembering they need a snack. Here’s a great compilation of free play areas from When Tara Met Blog.

Idea 4: Hit up the Kidcot Fun Stops at World Showcase

World Showcase often gets ignored by parents of kids, frankly because kids don’t necessarily love edutainment. But if your kids are young enough, they can have a lot of fun visiting every Kidcot fun stop. Basically, at any of the pavilions in World Showcase, obtain a cardboard Duffy Bear cutout. You can get a special stamp from each country on your Duffy Bear – so lots of young kids (including my daughter) enjoy trying to get the full set.

Each Kidcot fun stop also has a craft that your child can do. You can grab a unique craft/coloring page from each country. Finally, during special events like Flower and Garden or the International Festival of the Arts, you can often pay a small fee (~$6) to participate in various scavenger hunts. Whether you search for hidden Figments or easter eggs, a young child can have a very fun day at World Showcase without getting on a single ride.

Idea 5: Take a day off from the parks at your resort or Disney Springs

I recognize Disney tickets cost a lot of money. And once you’ve used them once, you need to use up all your days within 14 days. But if you have the time, it’s great to take a day off. If you’re staying at an on site Disney resort, you can spend an entire day just exploring the resort and lounging at the pool. Port Orleans: Riverside had tons of stuff we could do on a day off.

You could also visit other resorts, too! The monorail loop by the Magic Kingdom has a lot of great resorts to visit. Ditto the Boardwalk area (the walkway between the Epcot International gateway and Hollywood Studios). Like all of Disney, the theming of resorts really makes for a great experience.

Finally, Disney Springs has undergone some major improvements since its rebranding from Downtown Disney. That place is alive with energy: there are plenty of things to do, eat, play, and try there!

Final Thoughts – Is Disney worth it without the rides?

Some people don’t bring their kids to Disney until they are older, which is totally understandable. At the price point, you may not want to risk the investment only to find your kids are scared of everything.

That being said, I have a newfound appreciation for visiting Disney without rides. In my mind, I used to always process Disney as a theme park – aka I’d calculate the “value” gleaned from my ticket in rides per hour.

Since having kids, I realize that the cost of the ticket covers way more than rides: it covers the ambience, the shows, the surprise experiences you have, and so much more. Obviously, this comes from a Disneyphile perspective, but the fact of the matter is, I just enjoy being at the parks (and around them).

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So yes, I feel you can have a very worthwhile time at Disney without riding any rides. In fact, after we were stranded, my daughter and I spent a lovely half day at Hollywood Studios, and didn’t step on a single ride (though we did go to her favorite attraction, Disney Jr Live!). We reminisce about that day at the parks more than all the other ones, proof that you don’t need to ride to have a memorable time at Disney with your family.

What other non-ride activities did I miss? Let me know!

Mar 02 2017

I’ll be holding off on solo dad vacations for awhile

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have caught the Instagram story I posted a few weekends ago: my first solo dad flight with my two kids. For background, these lovely children are 4 years old (just turned) and 19 months respectively. Jess attended a conference in Charleston, SC and left the day before. My parents and sister’s family met us in Charleston as well.

I took my two young kids on the plane as a solo dad. And I survived! — Ready to go!

Despite my family being there as backup, at many times throughout that weekend I felt like a solo dad with his kids on vacation. Besides the flight, I took the kids to the aquarium by myself, handled bedtime alone in a new environment once or twice, and took my kids to a couple meals. It was tough. I think when the kids are older I’d like to take them on a trip on my own, but at a minimum I think H would need to be 4. The ability to dress yourself cannot be undervalued.

Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to write up a bit of our time together – equal parts fun and stress! 🙂

Choosing a flight – buy an infant seat or no?

I spent quite a bit of time debating whether to buy my son a seat. The benefits were obvious to me – I could bring his car seat on and prevent him from squirming around for at least some of the two hour flight.

Unfortunately, only one Jetblue flight flies directly between Boston and Charleston. Every other carrier and routing requires at least one stop. Doubly unfortunate was the fact that that ticket priced out at about $300 – one way! Flights with a connection ran around $220.

Ultimately, I decided I definitely couldn’t shell out an extra $300 for the seat. I debated between flying a connection with a paid infant seat or direct with an infant in arms, I opted for the latter.

One fun note, I booked the flight using my Jetblue points (came out to around 25,000 points, ugh). After I booked the flight, I ended up applying for the Jetblue Plus card from Barclaycard which offers a 10% rebate on points bookings. After my flight, I got the 10% even though I had booked the flight before I had the card. Good to know.

Surviving the flight

Honestly, I barely remember the flight at this point. We survived. For some reason for the Saturday flight Jetblue flies an Embraer 190. I’m no AvGeek but even I know that’s a small plane. The set up was 2-2 which was perfect: I didn’t have to worry about sharing the row.

Even better, the passenger in front of my daughter was another little kid so I worried less about whether she kicked him by mistake. But my big takeway was that 1 on 2 I didn’t have enough energy to feel bad about disturbing others. My choices were I to spend time and energy apologizing (if necessary) or focusing on fixing problems. I opted for the latter.

I placated the kids with a combination of snacks, tablets, games, and snacks. At some point my son shotgunned a can of Diet Coke. But other than that, the flight felt busy but not as stressful as I had thought. I just had no free time but for a two hour flight that’s totally doable.

The one semi-disaster was my inability to get my son to nap. By the time we were on final approach it was around 1:45 PM. My daughter hadn’t allowed me to go to the galley to rock my son to sleep (which my wife had successfully done twice the week before); she didn’t want me to leave her alone – understandable.

So of course he freaked out as soon as the seatbelt sign turned on and I had no real options. He didn’t want to drink milk or eat crackers or even potato chips. I just did my best to soothe him and of course as soon as the seatbelt sign turned off he flipped back to happy mode. Kids, man!

Picking up the rental car

Some point late in the week before my trip I became much more worried about getting to the rental car than the flight itself. Car seats, amirite? I had to buy another Jeep Car Seat bag (affiliate link) since mine had basically disintegrated over four years of flights.

Luckily, Charleston is a small airport. My son has gotten into this “I don’t want to actually ride in my stroller I just want to play with the buckles” phase which actually made things easier. I threw my backpack in the stroller, slung the car seat around my back and just walked with the kids to Hertz. Thanks to AAA, we got a free second car seat from Hertz (membership basically paid for itself right there).

Of course, the most annoying thing about car seats is installing the monstrosities. It took me about 5-10 minutes to do this. That whole time my kids climbed in and out of the car, in and out of the car. They had a great time but I basically soaked through my shirt. Still, we happily went on our way, they fell asleep for a nap, and I bought myself some Arby’s to celebrate.

Getting around

As I mentioned, my son decided that he no longer needed the stroller. We only brought one, so we let his sister use it. But since he loves the buckles so much he kept trying to push her out of the way so he could play with the buckles. Like, COME ON, DUDE.

Practically, this meant doubling the amount of time allocated to get anywhere on foot. We stayed right by King Street which has a lot of great things to eat so we walked often, it just took a lot longer than expected, especially when when 1 on 2.

Visiting the aquarium

Due to various parenting situations, I found myself alone at the Charleston Aquarium with the kids for a morning. This proved to be the simplest part of single parenting since I’ve taken my kids to the museum on my own before.

Since M is 4, I can let her wander within like a 100 foot radius and I can keep H on a 15 foot radius. I really enjoyed this aquarium. First, they have all these fish and water creatures (like an alligator) made from Legos – so cool! Secondly, I thought the aquarium had a nice vibe, just a lot of nice things for the kids to duck in and out of, some play areas, the touch tank wasn’t as cramped as Boston, etc. Highly recommend.

Dealing with crankiness

Probably the toughest thing about solo dad travel is the same as being a solo dad at home: disciplining the kids. First there’s the practical issue. Who watches kid 2 while you deal with a disciplinary issue with kid 1? Then there is an energy issue. How many problems or issues can you deal with at once? Add to that the new environment and things can get pretty tough.

So one morning M just up and decided she didn’t want to go to wherever everyone was going. At this point I basically told her if she wasn’t ready to leave in five minutes we wouldn’t be hanging out with her cousin (who she loves dearly) in the morning. Well, she didn’t get ready and I don’t make empty threats so that’s how we ended up at the aquarium alone that morning.

I can’t do a solo dad trip until at least both my kids are as reasonable as M is now (even though she wasn’t being reasonable in that instance). Because as everyone knows, there’s no reasoning with a toddler! Still, after that first morning I realized it would be better to just go with it and to not put too much pressure on myself due to our sunk costs. M and I had one more major issue on the trip, but I’ll save that for another post.

Final Thoughts

While I mostly highlighted the difficulties in traveling with those crazy kids alone, we actually had a really good time. Like every family trip we take, I feel more bonded to my kids than before. We have fun memories to talk about (especially now that M can legitimately remember them).

Still, what struck me was just how tiring it was to be the #1 parent on the road. Thankfully Jess finished up her conference Monday morning and once The Glue returned we settled into a much better routine. But yeah, I’m gonna hold off on another solo dad vacation for a little while, at least with both the kids. And for now, achievement unlocked!

Feb 28 2017

Why staying at an on site Disney resort is worth it

Staying off site makes sense for a lot of families visiting Disney World, especially those on a tight budget. I’ve written before about how we rented a condo off site which saved us over a thousand dollars over renting multiple rooms at an on site Disney resort.

However, Disney offers plenty of value for the premium you might pay by staying in an on site Disney resort. And a reminder – if you stay in one of their value hotels, you might not even pay a huge premium. You can score a value at $100/night which negates any savings from staying off site (but whether a value makes sense for your family or not is another matter altogether).

You pay a premium to stay in an on site Disney resort, but here the many benefits Disney offers (and their monetary value!) that makes it worth the cost. — I spent more time in this lobby than I would have liked due to our bag issue, but at least it’s pretty to look at!

Still, I wanted to know what benefits on site Disney resort guests received. I actually booked a room at Port Orleans: Riverside, a moderate hotel, for four nights before #DisneySMMC began. This was my own money (minus the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit, cha-ching). The four nights came out to around $190/night all in, though I could have gone as low as $165 if I hadn’t booked the river view room.

I didn’t look (because I didn’t want to move hotels), but I probably could have booked an off site property for like $100/night or so. Staying at Port Orleans: Riverside meant no kitchen, no extra room, etc., things I really enjoy about having my own apartment. Still, I definitely see how the $65 extra dollars a night can be worth it: here are some reasons why (in chronological order).

No rental car needed thanks to Disney’s Magical Express (estimated savings: $18/day)

I honestly felt some apprehension about using Disney’s Magical Express bus service. Disney’s Magical Express provides transportation to and from the airport for guests staying at Disney resorts. I’d say the Magical Express presents a ton of upside.

If you’re checking bags, you can check them all the way to your hotel room with many US carriers. That means you say goodbye to them at bag drop and say hello to them the night of your arrival in your hotel room. The amount of stress that saves a dad like me dragging two young kids along is unquantifiable. Amazing!

Secondly, while you do have to wait in a line to get on the bus, I’ve always had to wait in line getting a rental car at MCO so that’s a wash. AND you don’t have to worry about driving or carrying a million quarters with you for the stinking SunPass! Still, make sure you bring plenty of food/water/activities for the kid since the bus can take over an hour (each bus drops at multiple properties).

Good travel hackers probably can score a car rental for $15-$18/day, factor in gas and tolls and Disney’s Magical Express might save you $18/day. (Here’s where the commenters come out and say they can score $5/day rentals – great! Please write a guest post.).

Magic bands are included AND you can go straight to your room (estimated savings: $15)

Disney World’s magic bands are amazing. You can use those magical bands to get into your room, pay for stuff, add pictures to your Photopass, and much more! (OK, maybe that’s it). I seriously loved having a magic band, I didn’t need my wallet for anything and it just felt freeing to tap to pay for everything (much like the Octopus card in Hong Kong).

But the best part of having magic bands at an on site Disney resort? Online check-in. Basically, you can check in from the My Disney Experience app before you even get on your flight. You’ll receive a notification e-mail when you can get into your room. If said e-mail comes before your Magical Express bus arrives at the resort, you can walk straight to your room like we did. Or, since you aren’t worrying about bags, you can go straight to the parks.

While hotel chains like Hilton offer online check in, you still need to go to the front desk to grab your keys (though I think some hotels have keyless entry? IDK). It’s worth about $15 for me to go straight to my room without waiting in another line. I didn’t count the cost of the “free” magic bands because chances are if you’re staying off site you wouldn’t spend the thirteen bucks to get them.

Great pools and activities for kids (estimated savings: one day’s park admission)

The majority of on site Disney resorts are well themed and a pleasure to walk around. I’ve visited a bunch but only stayed at Port Orleans: Riverside as an adult so I will just talk about Riverside and French Quarter (we walked over there a bunch of times).

I can confidently say my daughter and son probably could spend an entire afternoon at the pools. Quiet pools, central pool, doesn’t matter – these pools just scream fun. Whether it be water slides, buckets of water pouring on your heads, or Mardi Gras themed floats in the water (French Quarter), it’s just fun to spend time at the pool.

Riverside also had a great playground where we spent some time. There’s entertainment in and around the resort, you can just take a nice stroll, or ride the boat to Disney Springs. You could spend an entire day wandering around Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter and not get bored. If I personally was staying off site, I probably wouldn’t take a day just to lounge around my hotel, so I estimate this benefit to be worth one day’s park admission, which, admittedly, could cost as little as $10.

Still, the fun in the themeing at Port Orleans: Riverside actually can be pretty hard to quantify.

Free Parking at theme parks (estimated savings: $20/day)

Obviously if you didn’t rent a car you don’t need to worry about this. But if you did rent a car, parking at theme parks is free for guests at on site Disney resorts. This saves you a quantifiable $20/day (but of course negates the rental car savings). Of course, annual passholders also have waived parking fees (and bear in mind that getting an annual pass makes financial sense for repeat visitors more often than you think).

Don’t forget, you don’t need a car because of Disney’s Transportation system. You can ride free buses to and from the parks and to many other areas around Walt Disney World. We used this system extensively and while I heard that Port Orleans: Riverside had spotty bus service; our experience didn’t reflect that. Lost backpack at bus depots notwithstanding, of course.

If time is money, time saved is money saved (estimated savings: whatever hourly rate you value your time at)

One of the savings from staying at an on site Disney resort is tough to quantify: time. If you spring for a deluxe resort, you are within walking distance to the parks. This saves a ton of time, especially if you have young kids. You can walk home to take a nap instead of worrying about public transportation, spending “just an hour” in the park doesn’t feel like a colossal time investment – these things are tough to quantify.

But as any parent of young kids will tell you, time is precious. A trip to Walt Disney World requires a significant investment and that can often lead to a lot of stress. Staying at an on site Disney resort relieves some of that stress by freeing up your valuable time. I’m probably not doing a good job of explaining this, but I just felt more relaxed staying at Port Orleans: Riverside than I did off site. And while I’m a bit rusty on my personal T-rate, that’s very worthwhile.

Bonus savings: Use Amazon Prime Now to buy drinks and snacks

Disney World has these pretty neat souvenir cups that you can basically refill everywhere. That’s pretty useful to get your Diet Coke fix on, but you can do better than the $18 these would cost for the length of your stay. For a $5 charge you can use Amazon Prime Now to get all sorts of groceries delivered to your resort (or any grocery delivery service really). You can of course do this if you’re staying off site as well, but you’re likely to have a car in that situation.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed staying at an on site Disney resort much more than I expected. Overall, I’d say for the $65 extra per night it would have cost to stay at the most basic room at Port Orleans: Riverside, I received at least $25/day in value. Honestly, that’s probably a conservative estimate since renting a car probably costs on average closer to $30/day.

Personally, the decreased stress, fun theming, and enjoyable ambience of the hotel more than made up for that extra $40/day, but obviously your mileage may vary. Every family has their own unique situation and you can’t go wrong as long as you try to do what’s best for your family.

What does everyone think, did I miss any benefits of staying at an on site Disney resort? Let me know!

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Feb 15 2017

Daddy, daughter, delays!

I had an amazing time at #DisneySMMC but I’ll post about that another day. Instead, I’m writing about my trip home while it’s still fresh in my mind. On Saturday, while I enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation on Disney’s private island Castaway Cay, a cloud still loomed in my mind.

My four year old daughter and I scheduled a flight home for 12 noon the next day. I figured that was enough time to get to the airport (it was) but had a growing concern about the potential blizzard moving into Boston, our destination. As the title would indicate, we ended up delayed. Here’s how we made our decisions and dealt with the interruption.

Debarking the Disney Wonder

Just a quick note, a 12 noon flight would have been no problem getting off the Disney Wonder. It’s a small ship and even though it was mostly full, we were off by 8 AM and on a bus by 8:10.

On board airline check in rules: you put your checked baggage out with tags by 10:30 PM the night before and then pick them up in your home airport. We had nothing to declare so pretty much walked straight through customs. We were at the airport before 9:00 AM and I joked that it was the earliest I’ve ever been at the airport for a flight (it is, as far as I can remember).

https://twitter.com/asthejoeflies/status/830771895154900992

One final point, the checkout checklist said that for flights before 12 noon you need to be off the boat by 8 AM or else they’ll pull your bags. Didn’t stick around long enough to find out but it’s something worth noting.

Delay 1: IRROPS

Being three hours early for a flight was a very foreign experience for me. Luckily we ran into Leslie from Trips with Tykes – her daughter V and M had bonded quite a bit on the trip. Everything seemed all good as the two kids celebrated their favorite part of the cruise:

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Then at around 10 AM I got a text from Delta saying our flight had been delayed by one hour. Uh oh. It looked to be because of delays at Logan, but now the total time I had to kill at the airport had ballooned to four hours! Let me give Delta credit here: sometimes with American I don’t hear about the delay until, you know, after departure time. It helped to get the text before we went through security.

We ate an early lunch and ended up going through security around 11:45 AM. Boarding was a piece of cake and M was happily watching Peppa Pig as the cabin doors closed. All good, until…

Delay 2: Mechanical

So we taxied onto the runway. I heard the engines spin up and then…nothing. After a bit of a delay, the pilot came on the intercom to say there was an equipment issue and he was waiting for advisement from the powers that be. Ten minutes later he announced what we all knew: we were headed back to the gate.

How my four year old and I dealt with a bunch of travel delays thanks to Delta and Disney — Get me out of here!

We soon found out the number 2 engine starter had an issue. The pilot said that if MCO had the part, the delay would be about an hour. If the part had to be flown in, all bets were off. Well, by the time we got back into the terminal: all bets were off.

Again, Delta did the best they could – there were sodas and water within minutes of us deplaning. Sandwiches arrived about 10-15 minutes later. But at this point it was 2 PM, we were only scheduled to get an update at 6:00 PM, and I had been at the airport for five hours. Decision time.

Making alternate plans

At times like these, I generally like to utilize all avenues available to me: humans, phone, internet. So I started waiting in line at the gate counter while on hold with Delta. Thankfully, I can surf the internet while on a call so I checked my Delta app too. They were offering a free flight change but worried about my two checked bags I stayed in line.

Eventually I realized that there was a Delta assist station. This was a bank of phones that put you in contact with an agent immediately: agents who had as much power as the gate agents. This was pretty clutch. At this point I figured I had two decisions:

Wait until 6 PM and hope the flight got out that night despite the blizzard
Find a hotel and fly out the next day

I still had one day left on my SMMC Disney ticket, but I wanted to do whatever was easiest for my daughter. Ultimately I decided that spending another four hours at the airport for the chance to go home that night was probably too much to ask of her.

So I rented a car ($35) and a room at the Doubletree at Disney Springs ($110). The helpful “gate agent” on the phone rebooked us for the 740 PM flight the next day, the only flight free.

In the end, my flight did end up taking off around 8 PM, but as my dad told me, I made the decision based on the knowledge I had at the time. While I was out ~$150, I know I made the right decision. It was just too big of a risk to stay. I was still worried about my bags but Delta assured me that they would be automatically moved to the flight.

Disney Springs, Take 2

Our first night in Orlando, we didn’t have the greatest time at Disney Springs. But due to Doubletree proximity (15 min walk), M and I decided to give it another shot. We weren’t disappointed. This time, we happened upon the World of Disney, aka the largest retail Disney store in the world. That place was a LOT of fun for a Disney fan. I managed to get out of there only buying two items, but it was pretty difficult!

We also enjoyed our return visit because we had some “magical”, unplanned moments. First, on our way down from the pedestrian bridge, we got a great view of a set of floor lights shaped like a Mickey. M was so excited to run down there and just walk around in circles, tracing Mickey with her path and I just marveled at how much fun a 4 year old can have doing the simplest things.

We also ran into a “fairy” who sprinkled pixie dust on M’s head. Honestly, if I had known it was going to be glitter I probably would have passed! But M was so excited to have the pixie dust PLUS the fairy was from “the kingdom of Burlington, MA” so we had a nice chat about Boston’s Frozen Ever After situation. Moral of the story? Extended daddy daughter time is rarely a bad thing.

One final flight change

Before we left for Hollywood Studios on our final morning (M loves the Disney Jr. Live! show), I decided to see if we could get on an earlier flight. The logistics of getting home at 930 PM are pretty difficult!

For this, I tried out Delta’s Twitter account, @Delta. This Twitter account houses the true wizards. They confirmed me (not standby) on an earlier flight and made sure my bags got rerouted for the second time. It turned out to be a lifesaver because the 740 PM got pushed to 930 PM (still due to Boston weather).

I can’t say enough about Delta’s entire customer service team through this whole experience – while I wish their plane didn’t break down they did such a great job accommodating us. We got one extra day of magic with the least amount of stress thanks to them.

Final Thoughts

Flight delays are tough. Day long flight delays are tougher. Making decisions with a 4 year old might be the most stressful part of all. Still, thanks to my Fairy Godmother (my wife, helping me make the right decisions from afar), the seven dwarves (Delta’s Customer Service team), and Minnie Mouse (my surprisingly non melted down daughter), we had one extra magical day in Orlando!

Update: Delta is even giving us $150 for our trouble, yay!

Feb 05 2017

Dos and Don’ts on your first day at Walt Disney World

We are officially here for #DisneySMMC and we had a bit of an uneven day. Fun, but uneven. For some reason we prepared less for this trip than our usual, my guess is because we were both slammed at work last week. Regardless, we’re here! Anyway, I need to process a bit so here is my list of dos and don’ts for myself. Learned from personal experience within the last 24 hours…

Related reading: Six must pack items for Disney World

Do: Take a morning flight so you can spend the afternoon getting acclimated

Don’t: Wake up your kids at 600 AM and expect everything to go smoothly.

Do: Utilize Disney’s Magical Express

Don’t: Forget to bring a bag to hold the garbage from all the snacks you need to feed the kids on the trip (which can take up to an hour or more). Also, don’t forget to wash out your pocket afterwards.

Do: Check-in online, receive a text message when your room is ready, and use your magic band to get into your room. Truly wonderful.

Don’t: Book a room on the second floor if you have a stroller. Or two. Port Orleans: Riverside does not have elevators (at least in my building).

Don’t: Go to the front desk reception for any reason if you can help it. The line is interminable. Seriously, check in online.

Do: Use Touring Plans or the unofficial Port Orleans site to help you choose a room you’d like. Touring Plans will fax your request in if you are a subscriber.

Don’t: Underestimate the value of being closer to the lobby and food court.

Do: Consider renting a stroller. Super convenient. We used Orlando Stroller Rentals, the City Mini we got is well used but still works great. Beats the alternative we had at home.

Do: Enjoy the very nicely themed and fun pool.

Don’t: Leave your clothes there and not remember until two hours after pool close.

Do: Order food from Amazon Prime Now or an equivalent food service. You save so much money. It costs $5 to deliver to the hotel but still well worth it.

Don’t: Call bell services asking them to bring the food but tell them you got groceries instead of something from Amazon, even Prime Now. They didn’t realize our food was there and didn’t call us back (because they were waiting for the food). An hour wasted and we had to pick up the food ourselves.

Don’t: Stick to your plan of going to Disney Springs even though you are an hour behind schedule (and one hour short of the kids’ normal bedtimes).

Don’t: Sprint through the resort after dropping off the groceries to make a bus in order to stick to said stupid plan.

Don’t: Show up at Disney Springs with no idea where you want to eat it is crowded, especially on a Saturday night.

Do: Eat at Morimoto’s Street Food. I liked it quite a bit.

Don’t: Go to Disney Springs without knowing how you are going to get out of there. Another half an hour wasted looking for the right boat to go back (we never found it because we made the mistake of ignoring a dock cast member’s direction for a land cast member. Is it too much to ask for people to know the right information though?).

Do: Stay calm. We obviously hit a lot of rough patches today, mostly of our own doing, but kept it together and didn’t ratchet up the stress, mostly thanks to The Glue. Things could have fallen apart but instead we still had a really fun day.

Do: Show empathy for your fellow travelers. A poor woman on the bus was in tears because she couldn’t calm down her toddler. That was rough.

Do: Prepare for an early morning rope drop the next day by getting the kids to bed as early as humanly possible despite spending way too long finding a bus at Disney Springs.

Don’t: Stay up late blogging about it that night.

Here are my quick impressions of what I’ve seen so far, all of which has been new to me (since we usually stay off site).

Magical Express: Great to have the service, though not necessarily the most convenient. Still, it was amazing to have our bags just show up.

Port Orleans Riverside: This resort is beautiful. The room is modest but feels comfortable, but the theming of the resort overall is great, and obviously what I’m paying for.

Disney Springs: Doesn’t feel like my scene. Too crowded and too confusing. Maybe it’s just cuz it’s Saturday night but I didn’t have the greatest first impression. Probably is cooler for people without kids (though there was a super cute kids’ dance party going on).

Disney bus system: It’s free…so that’s something. TBD I guess.

Tomorrow’s a new day and I can’t wait to get to Epcot!